Surprised By Her (Mainely Books Club Book 4) by Chelsea M. Cameron

Author:Chelsea M. Cameron [Cameron, Chelsea M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“So, I know you aren’t a huge fan of pools, but do you mind if I use it?” I asked, sitting up in bed. I wanted to take advantage of this situation while I could.

“Go ahead,” Ryan said.

I stood up and pretended to remember something. “Oh no, I don’t have anything to swim in. I guess I can’t.”

Ryan laughed. “I think I can get over my pool aversion if you’re going to be skinny dipping.”

“That’s the spirit!” I said as we went to rinse off in the shower first.

The pool wasn’t very warm, but at least it was warmer than the ocean. I slid into the shallow end and paddled around as Ryan dove into the deep end and then swam toward me.

“I was on the swim team in high school,” she said when she reached me.

“Then why do you hate pools?” I asked.

“Because I’ve spent too much time in them,” she said, making a face.

“That makes sense,” I said. “Were you any good?”

She didn’t answer for a second. “I did all right.”

Her face told me otherwise.

“You were really good, weren’t you?” I asked.

She smirked. “I did all right.”

“You don’t have to be modest. I bet you got all the trophies and medals,” I said. “I bet your parents bragged about you all the time.”

Ryan’s face fell a little bit. “My parents aren’t like your parents.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, genuinely curious.

She dove under the water and came up again, shaking water out of her hair.

“What happened when you got good grades in school? What did your parents do?” she asked. I guess we were back to talking about me.

“They’d get me a gift card to my favorite store and take me out for pizza,” I said.

“Exactly. No matter what my grade was, my parents would ask why it wasn’t higher. Why I wasn’t the best student in my class,” she said. “I tried to be. I did the sports and studied for the tests and went to the goddamn country club and did all the things I was supposed to do, and it was never enough,” she said, breathing heavy. “It was never enough.”

I swam close to her and touched her face as I stood up. “I’m sorry.”

She stood up and looked down at me. “It’s not your fault.”

“I know. I’m still sorry though. You deserved to be celebrated for your accomplishments.”

Mama still had a bunch of my awards and other things displayed in a case in her office. Anytime my name appeared in the local paper, she’d cut out the article and save it. Those were also framed and up around the house. When I’d been a kid, I’d thought every parent was like that.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, swimming away and leaning on the edge of the pool, her feet drifting in the water.

I went over to join her. “It does, but we can talk about something else if we need to,” I said.

“I’d rather talk about anything else,” she said.

I pushed back from the wall and smiled at her.

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